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Quite often go out with a 4K guitar and 1k amp. Pedalboard is 1k, but I usually use that with my 3k guitar.
So I average around 4-5k of gear to go and play in a pub. Otoh the sax player has an old selmer mark VI and a really good mouthpiece….
Rates much the same as NYC here in London. Perhaps a little better. You don’t make your money playing jazz gigs…
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09-11-2023 06:14 PM
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or the bassoon
Originally Posted by Spook410
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If your rig has to support vocals, an amp modeler and/or backing tracks it's going to be a full range system. The higher fidelity the better. YMMV on using backing tracks, but if you're going to use them, you can't run them through a guitar amp. In a pure guitar setting I could use a Yunzhi guitar and Roland Artist combo amp. Combination would not represent a compromise on guitar tone in the slightest. Under $3K total.
As for theft, it's quite common here with legalized drugs and all the transients. However, the common model is grabbing it in the middle of loading or from an unattended vehicle. I'm sure next-to-the-stage happens though but probably rare in the wine tasting rooms and wineries I'm going to play (and yea.. going to give it a try.. how bad could it be?)
All in all.. the plan is to enjoy my gear even at modest gigs. Tone and craft and new technology are a big part of the hobby for me.
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TM’s rock for live work. I want one. Probs the twin. Originally Posted by djg
i got all these gibsons at home
but the only thing i take to gigs these days (if i have any...) is my 750€ burny LP and my 900€ TM deluxe reverb.
It’s the house amp at my local big band blow, and I love it.
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Absolute minimal rig for a very simple gig or jam.
Guitar. Could be a Yamaha cheapie. $200
Amp: Little Jazz which was just on sale for $200, usually was 350
Guitar case. 200
two cables 40?
headstock tuner 35
extra strings, picks and misc. 50?
strap 20?
But, I wouldn't actually do that. More likely, I'd have a pedal board, another case, another cable (wouldn't need the headstock tuner) and a simple stand in case I needed to use Irealpro.
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If you run iRealB Pro through a guitar amp, especially one of those no-fi lunch boxes, it's going to sound awful. Same for vocals.
Last edited by Spook410; 09-13-2023 at 01:20 AM.
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I think they meant reading the charts, not practicing on stage. Originally Posted by Spook410
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iReal pro doesn’t sound so hot no matter what speaker you’re using. Originally Posted by Spook410
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Jazz guitar trio style into a hifi speaker sounds good. Bass/Drums are credible especially if you avoid the electric bass. Rhodes isn't bad. Vibes pretty good. Piano is awful. Synth is straight from 80's video games. The bad ones. Originally Posted by pamosmusic
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I might need to install the updates. Originally Posted by Spook410
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As you live on the east coast and run a large studio not sure what you would need ireal for. On the other hand, provincials like me have to find solutions to things like not having other jazz musicians to play with. Originally Posted by pamosmusic
Last edited by Spook410; 09-14-2023 at 04:54 AM.
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I'll be playing for $50 an hour later today for a few hours. I have a little over 2k in guitar stuff, a 355 knockoff and a used Twin Reverb with one OD. No way I'd be bringing a 5k guitar to a gig like that unless I owned a 5k guitar in which case I would play it into splinters and make my money back gigging it. But no full hollows. That stuff is just too fragile and when it's 105 degrees out it doesn't seem prudent to bring that kind of money out into the heat. My axe and case got rained on this summer at an outdoor gig and I was quite happy it has a nice plastic-y poly finish because it was an easy clean up. I just threw it in the case until I got home and then let everything dry out. Try that with your Johnny Smith, sucker. lol, kidding.
If I was retired and comfortable financially I would probably still take the gig but that's out of habit. But only if it was a ensemble. If I hadn't been gigging for my money prior I probably wouldn't waste my time unless I needed something productive to do. I could do a lot of these solo gigs and make pretty good money instead of working a day job but I hate solo gigs and I definitely hate being background noise so I just do handyman and maintenance stuff and gig most weekends and some weekdays with my group. I haven't kept my acoustic chops up and I got too much other stuff happening to be background noise at some jerks party.
There is no wrong answer, just go with what you feel called to do
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My TM Twin is an absolute keeper, just a brilliant amp. And at 33 pounds (a full 50 pounds lighter than my Mark IV combo) it has been a total game changer for me. She takes pedals very well and all my guitars sound fine to spectacular through it. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Not sure what calls.. going to just have to try it to see if I like it. It's not about the money or return on investment for the gear. It's just ironic that the pay is so low and the gear is somewhat expensive. But I already have the gear so I'll use expensive guitars because I like them. However, I won't put them at risk. If nothing else, out of respect for whoever the next owner turns out to be. There are inexpensive substitutes available when that makes sense. Originally Posted by DawgBone
Thing is, just going to have to try it. If there were others to play with in an ensemble, no question. Fun. But a solo wallpaper gig for peers and non-peers sipping wine.. not sure. But I'm going to find out.
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So I went and did this. Small venue. Sunday afternoon. Mostly empty. It had been very busy on Sunday afternoons but not this time. Played for a bit over an hour and really didn't play all that well. Fortunately the patrons didn't know because as long as you cover, you get away with it. Thing is, unless you gig you don't really know, or at least appreciate, where all the holes are. Gaps in arrangements. Tech problems (had plenty of those). Tunes you struggle for good ideas on (e.g. Take Five.. better known as The Curse of Desmond). Fat fingers. Mix. All of it. But now I know. At least a few of the likely suspects. And that can be addressed in the practice room.
As for the people, they were super nice. We don't have much in the way of live jazz in this area and from all indications they really, really enjoyed the music and came up afterward to let me know.
So, in conclusion, in spite of my doubts I'm moving to the camp of you have to gig. Even if you don't love it. That's were the rubber hits the road and the inspiration comes. To learn more tunes. To fix your current ones. It's a path through the fog and you either take that or risk walking in circles.
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Well done for getting out there. It's sometimes not as easy as it looks. The good days can be great, the bad days not so but that's where the practise comes in and, like you said, playing live let's you know exactly what you've got to practice. We'll keep going!! Originally Posted by Spook410
So I went and did this. Small venue. Sunday afternoon. Mostly empty. It had been very busy on Sunday afternoons but not this time. Played for a bit over an hour and really didn't play all that well. Fortunately the patrons didn't know because as long as you cover, you get away with it. Thing is, unless you gig you don't really know, or at least appreciate, where all the holes are. Gaps in arrangements. Tech problems (had plenty of those). Tunes you struggle for good ideas on (e.g. Take Five.. better known as The Curse of Desmond). Fat fingers. Mix. All of it. But now I know. At least a few of the likely suspects. And that can be addressed in the practice room.
As for the people, they were super nice. We don't have much in the way of live jazz in this area and from all indications they really, really enjoyed the music and came up afterward to let me know.
So, in conclusion, in spite of my doubts I'm moving to the camp of you have to gig. Even if you don't love it. That's were the rubber hits the road and the inspiration comes. To learn more tunes. To fix your current ones. It's a path through the fog and you either take that or risk walking in circles.
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Congrats on taking that step! I’ve not gigged since a couple years before Covid. Good on you for getting out there and doing it, for taking the risk.
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Yeah, you have to get out there and realize it's stepping off a curb, not climbing Mt. Everest. Nobody is going to throw a cymbal stand at you for screwing up. Originally Posted by Spook410
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Yea... ya gots to actually play LIVE, to understand what playing jazz is. The next step is to add the next factor...other musicians and eventually the audience will also be part of the equation. Great that your gettin out there... good luck and have fun.
Nice stool LOL. If you get steady gig... you can invite other players etc...
...but be careful ... I play gigs... don't really practice. On one of my weekend gigs, sunday, I had invited different musicians from weekday gigs to come sit in... LOL everyone showed up... percussion, Vibs, Violin and sax.... all really top shelf players but I felt like I was working in a BB rhythm section, which I do at least once a week anyway... I'm used to directing and kept it smooth and professional.... audience totally loved it, great entertainment. Not as much soloing for me... but lots of rhythm section improv. keepin it LIVE
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A great drummer once got enthused about a tune we played at a jam and said, "That time we weren't trying to play the music, we were playing it!"
The difference between that tune and what we'd done up to then was that the bassist was a monster player who was really driving the group hard.
I have done, and still do, gigs where the group politely plays the head, everyone solos, maybe drums on 4s and then the head out. Maybe a vamp at the end with some group creativity. That passes for jazz, and it can be fine, but it's not what Reg is talking about, if I understand him correctly.
Rather, it's that time when you aren't trying, you're doing. The difference is energy, jazz feel, jazz vocabulary and group interaction. It's creating a real jazz feel - which requires drive.
One thought I've had is this, if the musicians themselves know what's going to happen, it isn't that level of jazz.
In a band lesson, the teacher, a drummer, said to me, "Don't comp like you're buttering bread (motions), comp like you're sticking a fork in a piece of meat (motions)". Excellent lesson.
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… man, I knew I should of chosen the oboe… Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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If you can find a way to consolidate and choose your gear so you aren’t bringing a lot to the gig, maybe you’ll feel a little better for the low pay. All you’d need would be a small amp, a cheap arch top, and some cables. To save on weight you could take your phone or an old phone or even an mp3 player to store any backing tracks you have instead of bringing your laptop. Prior to retiring from professional music, once I got my hands on a Toob cabinet and a quilter amp head and a very lightweight and cheap Ibanez AF71F, I stopped bringing my heavy Fender Vibrolux tube amp and my D’Angelico Not only was the Ibanez, Toob, Quilter lighter, but I wouldn’t worry if either were damaged (for the record, the Toob cabinet is very rugged, it has survived many drops and works perfectly).
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The fife is where it's at... Originally Posted by st.bede
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